Campus Buzz

In memory yet green: The UC Green program is erecting a living memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the form of 150 trees along Chestnut Street from 31st to 40th streets. The tree planting, which starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10, offers a chance for the community to come together and show its unity in these troubled times. For more information about the tree planting, visit www.ucgreen.org/chestnut.asp or e-mail lisawz@wharton.upenn.edu.

Know where you’re going: Like those signs on Center City sidewalks showing you where you are and pointing you to neighborhood sites? Or those big blue roadside signs giving driving directions? They’re now all over University City, too, thanks to the efforts of the University City District, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, the William Penn Foundation and the Department of Streets. The UCD formally unveils the signs today at 1 p.m. at the Irvine Auditorium entrance plaza (rain location: Reath Terrace inside the Children’s Hospital’s main building).

Retail roundup: We managed to get out of the office the other day and noticed that there are a bunch of new businesses around the campus. Picnic, which we reported on in this space Aug. 30, and the international hair salon VOG have opened in the Left Bank. In the Moravian Cafes food court at 3401 Walnut, the owners of Bitar’s have branched out into crepes with the opening of Bonne Crêpe next door to their Middle Eastern eatery. At Sansom Common, high fashion was replaced by designer denim when Smith Bros. opened its seventh local jeans emporium in the former Ma Jolie space last month. And last but not least, the space last occupied by El Diner in the 3900 block of Walnut now has an honest-to-God diner in it: the Philly Diner, owned by veteran diner operator Hossein Elbana. It was hopping when we dropped by on a recent Tuesday night.

A reminder: You still have time to take our readers’ survey and enter our prize drawing. If you can’t find a copy of our Oct. 11 issue, you can take it on-line.

Penn in ink: Would you be willing to give your life in the fight against terrorism, as the passengers of United Flight 93 did? The success of our current war against terrorism will depend on how many of us are willing to keep answering “Yes” for a long time. As Associate Professor of Communications Carolyn Marvin said in an Oct. 16 Christian Science Monitor article on the idea of self-sacrifice, “The argument that the American public is not prepared to lose even one casualty is not true at all. It’s what they’re prepared to lose them for that counts.”…Is Viagra losing its potency? The Ventura County (Calif.) Star reported Oct. 15 that some doctors are reporting that patients need to up their doses over time, and others are raising concerns about adverse effects. Associate Professor of Medicine Howard Hermann, though, says those adverse effects are probably due to the overall health of those taking Viagra, not to the drug itself: “The drug is very safe. One just has to be aware of caveats in its use.”